January

This week the course of Tartu Maraton has suffered with excessive rain and warm weather. Organizers are waiting for the rains to stop and the course needs new snow for the 44th Tartu Maraton to take place on the 21st of February.

„Course conditions are nothing to brag about. Open areas are almost green and we have only some of the course left in the woods where trees have kept a lower temperature around,“ said race director Indrek Kelk.

„We are hoping that the warm weather will end before we have lost all of our course. If at least an icy trail will remain we shall have a solid base for the course and we would only need two or three snowy days to be ready for the race,“ he added.

„Today we can’t really say for sure if the 44th Tartu Maraton takes place this year or not. I think we have to wait for the weather to change and also follow weather preditcions but can not say anaything for sure before 8th or 9th of February,“ said Indrek Kelk. Tartu Maraton is scheduled to take place on the 21st of February.

5th Tartu Relay Marathon and the Open Track events on the 14th of February are in a better situation. As these events host a lot smaller crowds and do not demand courses that are this wide, there are some alternatives for these events.

„First alternative is that Relay Marathon and Open Track will take place in Otepää on a 4km artificial snow lap. Another option is that this event will be move to another location in Estonia as it was done in 2014,“ said Indrek Kelk.

„But unfortunately there are no such alternatives for the main races because we don’t have wide enough courses anywhere in Estonia for hosting the masses that take part in Tartu Maraton and small artificial snow lap is also not an option for the big races“.